Hardware architectures dedicated to a special purpose may be implemented as reconfigurable devices, or otherwise as non-reconfigurable devices such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). Reconfigurable devices are commonly defined as devices whose computing architecture is defined after manufacturing, and can usually be redefined. Examples are Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), which provide full flexibility in terms of hardware (HW). However, various kinds of reconfigurable architectures differing from typical FPGAs but fulfilling the general definition have been developed or are under development. Though less efficient than ASICs, such reconfigurable architectures allow the implementation of arbitrary logic functions.
Moreover, also general-purpose hardware may have functions that are adoptable by programmable parameters, e.g. a digital filter may be implemented whose coefficients are programmable, or software (SW), whether interpreted or compiled programming languages or assembly code, may be executed on general-purpose microprocessor or digital signal processor architectures. These examples are considered as software reconfiguration.
However, recently proposed video coding schemes indicate that today's general-purpose architectures and Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) do not offer the performance required for real-time decoding, especially when it comes to high-definition video. Furthermore they are expensive and power consuming.
Further it is known that storage of audiovisual (AV) data on storage media, using e.g. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) or hard disk in a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), relies on the standardization of the employed coding scheme, e.g. MPEG-2 or MPEG-4. Hence, end user devices, like e.g. disc players, employ dedicated decoders that are usually implemented as hardware within ASICs. The decoders are able to decode data streams that are compliant with the respective standardized format, and usually give no or little possibilities for variation of the decoding. Therefore, such storage media and the decoding devices heavily rely on the standardization of appropriate coding schemes that can provide the required efficiency.